The Rising Cody Sun: From Rookie Mockery To Post-Season Success

Immortals’ 2017 roster announcement was underwhelming to say the least, considering the previous iteration had proudly boasted an array of household names and star players.

Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon and Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin had legacies behind them and would continue to build upon them in North America. So when little-known pickups like Cody “Cody Sun” Sun and Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung joined the team in an attempt to fill the void left in the team, Immortals fans were left feeling a little short changed.

The confident Immortals squadron of superstars was no more; their new players would have to prove themselves on their own merit.

Unfortunately, Immortals looked vulnerable during a rough Spring Split for the newly formed lineup. Without the star carry threats of Huni and Reignover, the team mustered little resistance against the NA LCS’ more established rosters.

The bot lane in particular, struggled with communication and a lack of stage experience. Early in the new roster’s lifespan, Cody Sun was rife with growing pains.

Nicknamed “Cody Run”, the rookie became infamous for his stage nerves and inexperienced mistakes. Cody Sun was panned as a bottom-tier AD carry in the NA LCS, and ridiculed as an awful choice as Jason “Wildturtle” Tran replacement.

Undeterred, Cody Sun kept fighting. He pushed past all the nicknames and insults, and persevered through the split. As he built up synergy with his Korean support Olleh, his performances gradually improved. By the end of the split, he became a middle-of-the-pack AD carry, bent on being one of the best.

Speaking with Slingshot eSports, the Immortals AD carry remarked:

“No, I don’t really feel too much pressure. As long as I do my job for the team, that’s how I really need to do.

“I want to perform really well and show people that I can compete in the highest level in my role. It will just take a long time because Olleh and I don’t have much synergy.

“There are sometimes when I want to play a certain way, but just because we don’t have that synergy yet we can’t really do that.

“I think given time, I can show more consistent and better performances.”

Cody “Cody Sun” Sun

Cody found his breakthrough in the Summer Split. Immortals was revitalized with the addition of Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, and experienced a surge in coordination and leadership that had been missing in the split before.

Cody Sun’s creative Jhin builds helped his team to an outstanding, 14-4 record by the end of the split, and joint first place in the NA LCS.

By the time All-Pro team selections rolled around, Cody Sun was a popular candidate, falling at 2nd place for his position after the all the votes had been cast. From 2nd worst to 2nd best: Cody Sun’s journey and progression has been outstanding.

Source: Riot Games Flickr

In playoffs, Cody Sun only continued to build upon his ever-growing legacy. In three consecutive games on Kog’Maw, Cody obliterated Counter Logic Gaming with an outright carry performance. Game 2 served as a Cody Sun’s highlight reel, as the revitalised Immortals carry recorded a 10/1/8 record on Kog’Maw.

In less than a year, Cody Sun has completed turned around his dubious reputation. At the beginning of the Spring Split, Immortals’ bot lane was a joke, and he was the butt of it.

Olleh and Cody were a couple of no-namers, with little to justify their addition to the team. Since then, the two have gradually improved, into possibly the best bot lane in North America.

Cody Sun’s stoic work ethic, and calm commitment to improve, have seen Immortals rise from 7th back to 1st. For the first time, Immortals has capitalized on their regular season success and made it to the grand finals, where Cody Sun will be aiming for his first piece of professional silverware.